The Department of Transporation (DOTr) through Undersecretary Roberto Lim revealed on Wednesday that they are now reviewing the proposals of conglomerate San Miguel Corp.'s new international airport dubbed "aerotropolis" in Bulacan which would cost about P700 billion to build.

The new international gateway in Bulacan could be completed within six years once approved, it will eventually replace Manila's Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Some experts already agreed that a new airport serving Metro Manila and nearby areas is need because the airport which was constructed during the Marcos Regime in 1980, has been operating well beyond its design capacity.

NAIA's expansion capacity are also limited given its location within Metro Manila. During the presentation of DOTr, Undersecretary Lim showed perspectives of a massive airport and city complex covering 2,500 hectares in Bulakan, Bulacan province.

The unsolicited international airport proposal of SMC would rise along Manila Bay. It was proposed under a build-operate-transfer scheme, with SMC to operate the airport under a 50-year-concession.

Based on the proposals of San Miguel, the airport complex itself would span, 1,168 hectares and would have as many six parallel runways. The existing NAIA airport has two runways, these are not parallels and intersect each other.

In the proposed "aerotropolis" project of SMC, the international airport will operate initially with two parallel runways, each with a 3.5 kilometer length. These can accommodate even the largest passenger aircraft in the world today, the Airbus A380.

As part of the proposal, SMC will build an expressway that would link
its airport to the North Luzon Expressway (Marilao). That would bring
travel time to SM City North EDSA in Quezon City to about 60 minutes,
according to details shared by DOTr. The expressway will likewise have a
link to the SMC-backed Metro Rail Transit Line- 7 in San Jose Del
Monte, Bulacan.